When Nicole opened her locker a note fell out. It was obviously from Eva, only she would be so desperate after Nicole had confronted her. This likely meant Eva was nearby and watching what Nicole did with the letter, of course she couldn't approach Nicole even if she threw away the letter. So Nicole did just that, she didn't go to the trouble of opening the letter, instead she just left it on the floor and grabbed her books. Once she had gathered her textbooks she made sure to step on the letter to further her point, and walked back towards Amy's locker. Only once she was a safe distance from her locker did she look back, Eva was standing over the letter looking disappointed but not at all surprised. Once she was done staring at the letter she picked it back up and slid it back into the locker. Nicole scoffed but turned quickly and continued walking towards Amy's locker.
She looked back to make sure Eva was not following her, she was being paranoid, but at this point it seemed Eva was desperate and obsessive. Because she was walking forward while her head faced back she ended up running into Amy as she had come to find Nicole. They both took a step back as their steps faltered. "Sorry Amy." Nicole was still facing back, even as she delivered her apology.
"It's alright, hey are you alright?" Amy reached out her hand and tilted Nicole's head towards her. "Nicole?" Nicole snapped out of her paranoia, not wanting to scare her new roommate.
"Yeah, I just kind of felt like I was being followed." She clutched her books tighter and pushed Amy towards their first class. "Come on, we should get to class a bit earlier." The hallways were more crowded which made Nicole feel more on edge. Eva could easily blend in to the crowd and follow Nicole without her even knowing. "Could you stand behind me while we walk, please Amy." Amy could see the fear and concern in Nicole's eyes and agreed without question.
They arrived at the class and took their normal seats next to each other. It was math class, which meant Nicole: A) wouldn't be focused B)she would be panicking the whole time about Eva. Their teacher arrived in the classroom and Nicole tried to focus on their lesson. She answered questions even if she didn't know the answer, just so she could try and stay engaged with the content. Though a few times her attention was drawn to thoughts of Eva and why she was seemingly tormenting Nicole.
Amy noticed Nicole's sudden love for math, her engagement, and questions making Amy more concerned. Why was Nicole being so suddenly interested and invested in everything being taught? Amy tapped Nicole's leg while their teacher looked away to write on the white board. Nicole flinched and whipped her head towards Amy. "Are you okay Nicky, you've been a bit on edge." Amy whispered so as not to draw attention to them. A bit had been an understatement, but she didn't want to offend or make Nicole feel self conscious.
"I'm fine, I just want to pass this class." Amy could tell this was a lie, Nicole never really had to work hard to pass classes. Even if she paid little attention to lessons she always did well. Amy decided to leave Nicole to her paranoia driven antics and also paid attention to the class, throwing herself into the assignments. By the end of the class Nicole and Amy's teacher seemed exhausted, she hadn't had such student engagement in ages. Nicole hurriedly began walking to her next class, Amy straying close behind her.
Suddenly Nicole froze in the middle of the hall, passerby's shoving her and telling her to move but Nicole was frozen, staring at someone in the distance. Amy caught up with Nicole and stood next to her looking the same direction as her. She saw Eva in the distance also frozen and stuck staring at Nicole. Only Eva wasn't frozen in fear, she was smiling, whereas Nicole was fear stricken. Her mouth was agape and her eyes wide with worry. Amy ushered Nicole forwards, trying to push around the crowds and lose Eva's line of sight, to no avail.
When the pair approached the place Eva was standing Nicole looked down and Amy glared at her. She had no idea what was going on between the two but she could tell whatever it was was making Nicole extremely uncomfortable. Eva grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her towards her. "Is Nicole okay, she looks frightened and a bit pale. Why don't I take her to the nurse's office." Amy shrugged away Eva's hand but followed her advice.
"It's fine I'll take her, she can rest there. But why don't you tell our teacher we'll be late since it seemed you were heading in that direction." Amy walked faster and faster ignoring Eva's calls of desperation as she got drowned out by the bustling of the school's halls. Amy knocked on the nurses door, before remembering that she wouldn't come in until after lunch. Luckily for her and Nicole the door was unlocked and the several cots lining the walls were vacant. "I'm going to call your mother Nicole, you need to get home. Obviously whatever is going on between you and Eva is too much right now." Nicole opened her mouth to argue but Eva silenced her. She pulled out her phone and made the call.
"Hi, Mrs.Santos, yes it's Amy. No, everything with me is fine. It's Nicole, she's a bit pale and she feels cold. Can one of you pick her up? Yes, alright. I'll get her down to the office." Juliana asked whether Amy wanted to come home early too. She thought about accepting for a second. "No, we have a test coming up, I'll take notes for the both of us. Yes, I'll tell the teacher she's gotten sick. Alright, bye Mrs.Santos." She hung up the phone and looked to Nicole, who looked less pale but more worried. "Chris is coming to pick you up in thirty minutes. Come on, let's go. And don't worry about your textbooks we can share when we get home."
Amy walked Nicole to the office which wasn't too far from the nurses office and told the office worker Nicole would be leaving early. She left Nicole and headed to class to take notes as she had promised. But the only thing she could think of in the rest of her classes was Nicole and whether or not she'd be okay returning to school.